How to Move Forward in Ministry

Matthew 9:14–17 KJV 1900

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

In this passage of scripture, Jesus is in the process of establishing the foundation and framework of His ministry. He is has assembled His ministerial team, He has communicated His purpose and mission, and now He is activating His Father’s plan of salvation.

It is while He is actively engaged in the work of the Kingdom that He is being confronted the disciples of John the Baptist, who are questioning the approach and methodology of Jesus’ ministry efforts. I will parenthetically pause here to let you know, that if you have a hunger to be criticized, ridiculed, and condemned, all you have to do is get busy for God!

People get upset when you start making moves for the Master.

People can’t handle it when you start using your gifts and talents in service to the King.

People start feeling some kind of way when they see God maximizing the power of you potential.

People will fall out with you if they see you moving your life from apathy to action.

People get all twisted out of sorts, when they witness the blessings of God anointing whatever you touch.

Now, don’t be to hard on these people, because this is to be expected from those who have been paralyzed by their spiritual inability to move forward. And as a result, this spiritual inability has the unfortunate consequence of physical inaction. In other words, when people refuse to move forward in there thinking, it becomes almost impossible for them to move forward in anything that needs to be done.

Jesus, in our text, is teaching us if we are going to move forward in ministry, we must…

Break The Chains of Tradition - v.14 - How We Have Always Done it.

Understand The Challenges of Time - v.15-17a - Contextual Necessities of Now.

Address The Call to Transition - v.17b -